Forest Laboratory
by Whymsical
Summary: Arthur goes for a walk in the woods and stumbles on something - and someone - that he never imagined could exist.


**A/N:** Long time no see! I'm not dead, and I've been slowly writing this for the past few months so I figured I would try to finish for Arthur's birthday. There's no romance in this, and it's mainly complete self-indulgence.

I am not good at maths or science so sorry if the ratios don't make sense.

Still, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Arthur had never been this deep in the forest before. He had passed familiar territory an hour ago, but his curiosity drove him on. Something had happened a few days ago, a sound like an explosion in the middle of the worst thunderstorm he could remember. The forest had become a solace to the Brit, far from his homeland in the middle of nowhere, America, and he wanted to make sure nothing bad had happened to it.

He took another swig from his water bottle and sighed. He'd already been walking for over two hours, and the sun had just passed its highest point in the sky. If he didn't find anything soon, he'd have to turn back- As Arthur shouldered his way between two thick bushes, he dropped the water bottle. A curse fell from his lips as he scrambled to right the bottle before he lost too much water to the ground, but his eyes flickered back to the sight before him even as he crouched down.

There was...what looked like a warehouse in the middle of the forest, perfectly white apart from some moss stains near the base of the structure. The treeline pressed right up against the building, which spanned Arthur's entire sightline in either direction. The structure was tall too, over fifty feet and barely below the height of the trees. There were no windows, and no doors that Arthur could see.

Arthur slowly stood again, tucking the water bottle back into the rucksack slung over his shoulder. After looking both left and right he started padding left, his footsteps cautious as he remained on the lookout for anything out of place- though what could be out of place in a whole building that was out of place in the forest, he didn't really know. Mainly, he hoped that he didn't come across any angry people that would accuse him of trespassing.

He walked along for close to ten minutes before he started seeing the scorch marks.

The white of the walls was marred with black and brown, and in parts the metal siding had started to melt. As Arthur approached the corner of the building, what he realized was a building complex, he saw holes in the structure where the fire had devoured, and even a place of twisted, warped metal where apparently a lightning bolt had struck to ignite the place. He swallowed.

"H-Hello?" he called, voice still soft with nerves. "Is anyone there?"

Silence.

A few more minutes staring through into the wreckage of the building showed whiteboards and complicated equipment- a laboratory then? All of the machines were silent, and there was no sign of human life (or death) anywhere. Arthur sighed with relief; he didn't want to find any bodies here.

He realized that his hands were shaking just barely, and turned away. His steps were brisk as he walked up the other way, and this time it wasn't long before he came upon a door in the building as well. The roof was lower in this part of the complex, and many windows lined the walls. The door was ajar and partially washed-away footprints littered the ground, grinding up the dirt and all pointing in the direction that Arthur was facing. The scientists must have escaped, then.

"Don't go in. Don't go in, you idiot," Arthur muttered to himself even as he approached the door.

Glancing around, he found a sturdy stick, which he used to pry the door open even more. Nothing happened. Nothing moved within, no alarms went off, only the air shifted. It was bright inside the building due to the sunlight pouring through the windows. Arthur's hiking boots thudded against the floor as he stepped inside, and he worked to make his footsteps lighter. There was a lightswitch by the door, and out of curiosity Arthur flipped it.

Nothing again.

"Well there was a fire. Figures the power's out."

Arthur looked around again, his eyes trailing over the tables and computers. It all looked expensive, but some of the pieces were clunky in a way that screamed age. A lever built into the opposite wall caught his eye, and he stepped over to it.

'EMERGENCY GENERATOR SWITCH'

"Huh…" Arthur bit his lip and looked around. "Hello?" he called out again, louder this time. His mother had always said he had a curious mind. He heaved the lever down after he was satisfied that he was alone.

The rooms and outside of this part of the building were untouched by the fire, and after a low humming noise, the power turned on. A few of the pieces of equipment and computers came to life, but the overhead lights in the room stayed off. Arthur could see that the lights in the hallway were on, and moved over to flick the lightswitch again. He blinked at the extra light from overhead now, and then flinched at the low but heavy rumble that shook the building.

"Hello?!" he called out loudly, practically yelled. "Is anyone there?"

A smaller rumble, and then nothing. Perhaps part of the damaged building had caved in from the electricity. Arthur released the breath he'd been holding and started poking around again. While he didn't touch any of the equipment, he took a closer look at it all before stepping out into the hallway. His eyes passed over something built into the wall and he paused. It looked like… an intercom?

Stepping over to the thing proved his guess true. There was only one button on it, and he pressed it. Speakers in the ceiling tiles crackled to life.

"Hello?" Arthur asked yet again, though it wasn't a real question this time, and felt a spark of excitement go through his stomach at the sound of his voice through the speakers. "This is so strange… but cool."

He took his finger off the button and stepped away. As cool as the intercom was, there was a whole building complex to explore… He froze as the speakers crackled to life again.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Can you hear me?" a male voice asked, sounding panicked and hopeful and just _loud_ all at the same time.

Arthur stayed frozen, his heart galloping in his chest.

"Please, is someone there?" the voice asked again. "Please, just reply again if you can."

Biting his lip and exhaling slowly, Arthur walked back to the intercom. His finger trembled as he pressed down on the button again. "I- I'm here. Who are you?"

"My name is Alfred!" the voice proclaimed. Its owner sounded much happier now. "Who are you? I thought you all left, I don't recognize your voice…"

"I don't work here," Arthur said. "My name is Arthur, I was just exploring the forest but-" Who knew who this man was? What he could want? "I think I should go now. I'll notify the police, someone will be back shortly, I'm sure."

"Wait, no! Please don't leave me alone. You can't tell anyone!"

Arthur felt his heart freeze again. "Why not?"

"No one from the outside world is supposed to know about me. That's what they said, the scientists. If you tell someone we'll both get in trouble."

"Oh." Arthur swallowed at that. His finger was still off the button, and he stared at the wall. Just what had he stumbled upon?

The voice spoke once more, carefully and calmly this time. "Could you come meet me?"

"Meet- Meet you?" Arthur practically squeaked out, his finger jamming the button down. "I don't know you, you could be a killer or- or I don't even know, some sort of…" He backed away again.

"Monster?" The voice sounded even more subdued now. "Some kind of monster, right? That's what you were gonna say?" There was silence between them for a while. "I… I can't force you to come, obviously, but I'm really lonely and now I've been left alone here maybe even to die, and you have a really nice voice and I'd just like to see someone who's not just talking to me to get something out of me. I promise I'm not dangerous, but… It's up to you, I guess."

The intercom went silent. Arthur stared at it, trying to think clearly about what the voice had just said. The man had sounded...so sad. So desperate for contact that wasn't sterile or harsh. The Brit steeled himself and activated the communication once again.

"How do I find you?"

"You're still here! Oh, um, um, there should be signs on the walls. Can you see signs on the walls leading to various labs and containment units?"

"Yes, there are a few signs."

"Great! Is there one for Containment Unit Three?"

Arthur hurriedly glanced through the list of rooms. "I don't see- Oh no wait, there it is. Yes, I see it."

"Great! That's perfect, just follow that then." The voice- Alfred kept talking as Arthur started following the arrows, thankfully leading in the opposite direction from the fire-damaged sector. "Gosh I'm so excited to meet you! I've only been talking to all the scientists here for years, and they never let me leave here. I mean not that you'll let me leave here but we'll be able to talk and have conversations and stuff and just oh it'll be so perfect! Well, if you don't run away when you see me and stuff-"

Arthur paused at another intercom panel. "Alfred?" he interrupted. "Why would I run away when I see you?" His heart was hammering again, it hadn't really stopped, but now Arthur could barely hear Alfred's reply over his heartbeat.

"Oh. Um. Some new scientists do that. I thought you might too."

"But why?"

"Some people are just scared of me. Please, Arthur, just come see for yourself. I promise I'm not dangerous. I promise."

"Why should I trust you?"

"I don't know." Alfred's voice went very small. "I don't know but I just don't want to be left alone again… You can always leave. I don't want you to leave, at least just yet, but you can if you want to."

Arthur paused again, and let out a sigh. "No. No, I want to see you and make that decision for myself."

"Thank you, oh thank you! The passcode for the door should be 325634, for both of them."

"Two locked doors?"

"Yeah, one for the viewing area and one to my room."

"I'm not sure if I'll remember the code, Alfred."

"I'll keep repeating it then!"

Alfred indeed kept chirping out the code for the remainder of the time that Arthur rushed through the hallways. He eventually came across a door labeled Containment Unit 3, but since there was no intercom nearby in the hallway, he couldn't tell Alfred that he was there. Instead he quickly punched in the code and hoped that whatever was waiting for him on the other side wouldn't make him regret his choice.

The room he stepped into was long and narrow, with a panel on the right side under a wide window spanning most of the wall. Four chairs were scattered near the panel, and a few papers littered the floor. Even from the doorway and his limited view, Arthur could see that the room separated by the second door was huge. Why would they need a room that big for a single man? He clenched his hands together as he stepped further into the observation room.

Slowly, a figure came into view. An enormous, mind-bending figure. Arthur could only see the upper legs and knees of what was apparently Alfred, clothed in jeans of gigantic proportions. The breath rushed out of him. Faintly, he could hear Alfred asking where he was, but he couldn't take his eyes off of those giant legs. They shifted constantly, and now that Arthur was past the soundproofed hallway walls he could hear the rumbles that Alfred's body produced.

Then, Alfred started kneeling. A blue shirt came into view, and a chest and arms and finally the giant's face, startling blue eyes peering out from behind the biggest pair of glasses Arthur had ever seen. And when those eyes locked onto Arthur's body...the Brit's legs gave out. The blow to his backside jolted Arthur out of his stupor and he scrambled backwards, against the wall as his chest heaved. This was- This was Alfred?

Apparently, because Alfred's face fell at the reaction. His eyes filled with sadness and he sunk down even lower, until only his head was visible from the windows. Arthur couldn't understand it, any of it. How was there a being this huge? How could Alfred hide so much of himself when they were at ground level? Alfred's mouth opened as he spoke, probably begged something of Arthur, but Arthur couldn't hear any of it. He shook his head, holding himself more tightly.

Alfred's mouth froze, then slowly closed. He reached out a hand, placing it against the glass, eyes still pleading with Arthur, but Arthur only flinched and closed his eyes. The rumbles, stilled, everything stilled for a few moments. There was no shattering of glass, no tree-trunk like fingers closing around him. Alfred's shadow blocked out some of the lights streaming in from the containment room, but shortly afterwards the shadow moved and the rumbles returned as Alfred drew back.

Arthur cracked open his eyes again after a few more minutes of silence. Alfred was gone from the window. The Brit tried standing and found he had to use one of the chairs for support when he was upright. His legs were still shaking. He turned to the door, even took a step forward, then paused as the memory of Alfred's pleading, saddened eyes flashed through his mind. Arthur gripped the chair tighter, closing his eyes and breathing through his nose as he tried to come to a decision. His curiosity won out again and he inched closer to the window to peek inside the containment room properly.

The walls were white, the floors were white, and the ceiling was a dull grey. A few skylights punctured the grey, alternating with the same artificial lighting everywhere else in the building complex, and the room itself was sparsely furnished. A giant mattress with a single pillow and a ratty blanket lay in one corner, and a table-like block was raised in the middle. The floor of the room was a good thirty feet or so below him, and in one of the corners sat Alfred. He was wedged in the corner, knees to his chest with his head between them, and his arms wrapped around himself tightly. He was still a formidable sight, but...no longer so terrifying.

When Arthur was finally able to draw his gaze to the panel under the window, he startled when he noticed a microphone jutting from one end of it. He padded his way over to it and sat down on the chair nearest to the device. There were two buttons below the microphone, one labeled 'Microphone' and the other labeled 'Room Feedback'. Arthur pressed the feedback button first, which stuck into place, but nothing seemingly happened. The Brit paused, then froze once more as he started hearing breathing over the speakers in his room. The breaths were in time with how he could see Alfred's chest move. He pressed the other button.

"Alfred?" he asked hesitantly.

Alfred's head shot up. His cheeks were red with tears and his glasses crooked on his face, but his eyes were wide. "Arthur?" His voice somehow managed to be simultaneously breathy and thick.

"Y-Yes…"

"You're still here?"

"I- Obviously." Arthur couldn't help the snark.

Alfred's lips quirked. "I just thought you'd run. You looked scared to death."

Sat so far from the glass, Arthur could almost imagine that Alfred was regularly sized. "You neglected to mention something very important to me before I saw you. Why didn't you tell me you were bloody giant?"

"Would you have believed me? Or even wanted to meet me if that was true?" Alfred dug his fingers into his arms and rested his chin against his knees morosely. "You should just go."

Arthur considered. "I thought you said you were lonely," he eventually murmured.

"You probably hate me now."

"You startled me, and I was afraid, but I don't hate you. And besides, I'm still here aren't I?"

"So you're saying you're not afraid anymore?"

"I…" Arthur tried to choose his words carefully. "I was in shock before. I'm still nervous now, but I don't believe that I'm afraid. Certainly not terrified."

"Prove it."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Prove it, Arthur. Come in here."

Arthur recognized the surly, childish tone that his younger brother sometimes adopted when he was sulking, but the challenge stood nonetheless. He studied Alfred's figure, eyes flitting over all aspects of it. The image of Alfred pressing his hand against the glass with something akin to desperation flashed through his mind once more, and as he watched the giant slumped down again at the prolonged silence. His cheeks were smooshed against his knees, and it looked like his glasses were close to breaking. Every so often, the breaths coming through the speakers would hitch.

"Alfred."

Alfred's face tilted upright again.

"I'll come in and see you, but only on one condition."

"What condition?"

"You have to do what I say, for example if I tell you to freeze or move away. And you can't move when I come in until I tell you to it's alright."

A line appeared between Alfred's eyebrows. "Aren't those two conditions though?"

"Two conditions, then. Do you agree to them?"

"Yes." The agreement was instantaneous.

"Okay." Arthur let out a breath. "Could you tell me the code to the room again?"

"Yeah. But Arthur?" Alfred could barely make out the figure in the room, hunched over with closed eyes again. "Arthur, look at me."

The Brit cracked his eyes open and with difficulty met Alfred's gaze.

"I won't hurt you. I promise."

"I know. Or at least, I hope I know." Arthur stood from the chair and hovered over the microphone button. "Tell me the code, please." He shut the mike off and strode over to the door, his right hand clenched at his side.

"It's 325634."

The buttons on the keypad next to this door were stiff with age, as if no one had gone into the containment room for a long while. However, once the code had been accepted, the door opened smoothly to reveal a white metal walkway on the other side. Arthur only hesitated a moment before stepping out onto it with a low _clank_. The walkway ended to his left, but extended over to a staircase on his right. Arthur gripped the railing tightly, and didn't take his eyes off of Alfred's form as he walked towards the stairs. As promised, Alfred didn't move a muscle.

As Arthur descended down the staircase, his heart rose higher into his throat. He was shaking again when he reached the floor, on eye-level with Alfred's ankles. The giant had socks on, but not shoes, and his blue eyes were locked onto Arthur's body in the same way. Still, this new perspective was almost more frightening than what had initially happened in the observation room.

"Can I um…" Arthur jumped at the voice, and Alfred hurried to lower his decibel to a whisper. "Can I wipe my eyes?"

"What?" Arthur's voice didn't carry around the same way in the room that Alfred's had, and he frowned when the American didn't respond. "What?" he yelled instead. "Why would you ask-?"

"You said I couldn't move until you gave me permission."

"Yes, go ahead! I meant more that you wouldn't approach me until I was comfortable with the thought." Arthur quickly realized that the distance between them just wasn't going to work. He could tell that Alfred still had difficulty understanding his words, and so he set out towards the table block in the center of the room.

Alfred had set his glasses down on the floor while he scrubbed at his face with a sleeve, but he froze the moment the frames were back on his face. "What are you doing?"

"Coming closer. Obviously." There was silence until Arthur reached his destination, and he placed a hand against the smooth walls of the block to steady himself. "You can come closer, Alfred. But slowly, please."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Alfred stayed still for a few more moments, his palms flat against the floor and his lower lip worried between his teeth. Then he started shifting, the ground rumbling beneath him. He never fully stood up, but rather shuffled over while crouching. He stopped, too, still a good twenty feet away from Arthur.

Arthur craned his neck back to look up at him, frustrated at the uncomfortable angle. "Alfred?" he asked, trying out a softer tone again.

The huge man lowered his head down farther. "Yeah?"

"How would you feel about sitting at the table with me on top of it? Then we could perhaps have a proper conversation."

"I'd… I'd like that, but how will you get up there?"

"Well, I was thinking you could lift me up there."

Alfred's eyes widened. "You would...let me touch you?"

"How else am I going to get to the top of the table?" Arthur glanced around, but couldn't see anything from where he was stood. After Alfred didn't respond to his question, he instead drew himself up. "Alright. We're going to do this slowly and carefully. Could you put your hand flat on the ground in front of me?"

Despite knowing what was coming, Arthur still leaned further against the block as Alfred's large hand swooped down towards him. He knew the giant was trying to be careful, or at least he hoped, but the palm of it was waiting before him all too soon. He estimated that he was a bit longer than the hand from wrist to fingertip, but not by much. Arthur took a step forward, then two, and flinched as his boot pressed into the squishy texture of the hand. Alfred was having a similar reaction, because Arthur could actually feel as the American stiffened. It almost knocked him off balance and he crouched low to the ground as he clambered on for more stability.

Under his guidance, Alfred slowly lifted him up into the air. Arthur could feel him shaking minutely, and he gripped onto Alfred's thumb for support. This time the ride seemed to take way too long. As soon as it was close enough to be safe, Arthur scrambled off of the hand and took a few steps away from Alfred on the smooth block. He had a bit of a better view from up here, though his eyes narrowed as he took in a strange cut-off at the opposite side of the table. When he moved closer, his heart plummeted to his feet when he saw that there were stairs carved into the block.

"Alfred." His voice cracked.

"I'm sorry." Alfred sounded very small again.

"You lied to me."

"I'm _sorry_."

"Is that all you can say?!" Arthur whirled around, taking another few steps back. Away from Alfred, from this giant in a laboratory who he had trusted and who had just _lied_ to him.

"I just wanted to touch someone again! I haven't had contact with anyone for years, none of the scientists would touch me or anything I just wanted to feel another human again!" Alfred's voice rose sharply in decibel, to the point where Arthur had to cover his ears. The giant immediately paled and shrank away. "I'm sorry. Arthur, I'm sorry…"

"What else have you lied about?" Arthur asked, his hands clenched at his side. He took another step backwards, and since he couldn't bring himself to look at the other man's face, didn't see Alfred's eyes widening.

"Nothing. It's not a big deal, right? I- I didn't hurt you and you're up here now, please. C-Come back to the center and we can talk now, right?" Biting his lip, Alfred moved forward again and hunched over the table a little bit.

"You lied to me, Alfred. I'm not sure if I want to stay…"

"Please! You gotta!"

Arthur stumbled back again. "I don't 'have to' do anything, Alfred! How can I be sure if I'll be safe if you're not afraid to lie to my face?"

"Arthur- No, be careful-" Alfred winced and reached a hand out to the Brit, but Arthur only backed away more- right off the edge of the table.

He screamed as he fell, eyes closing instinctively. Then- thump. Much more quickly than it should have happened, Arthur hit a surface. It was soft, though it still knocked the breath out of him, and Arthur's eyes snapped open again to see he was in Alfred's hand again. The giant was hanging off the edge of the table, blue eyes filled with panic and glasses askew on his nose. They stared at each other, blue and green both wide, until Alfred let out an exhale and started crawling back to where he'd been sat. Wordlessly, Arthur was deposited in the center and Alfred's hands disappeared below the edge of the block. Alfred kept his head and his gaze down.

"Th- Thank you," Arthur managed to choke out. He was trembling violently and sat down on the surface of the table.

"It wouldn't have been pretty if you fell from that height," Alfred mumbled. "I didn't want that to happen to you."

"Did...someone else fall from here?"

"A scientist a few years ago. I scared him by accident. He lived, but now he's in a wheelchair."

"I see." Arthur swallowed. "Thank you, again."

Alfred shrugged, still keeping his head firmly downwards. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"And you wanted the scientist to get hurt?"

"No!" Now Alfred's eyes were blazing, and he all but glared at the small Brit. "I don't want to see anyone hurt! I-" He slumped down again, his cheek pressed to the block surface. "I couldn't catch him. I tried, I swear, but I couldn't…"

"I'm sorry, Alfred. I shouldn't have insinuated…"

"S'okay. Don't blame you. They had no problem with it, but. Well." Alfred blinked. "Oops. I kinda lost my train of thought, sorry." He straightened again and started reaching a hand up to scratch the back of his neck, but suddenly froze, eyes pinned on Arthur.

It took a moment for it to click in Arthur's mind. "You can move. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to become some...obedient robot or something. I'd just appreciate it if I could keep my personal space."

"Yeah, yeah, no problem! Does this mean we can talk now?"

"Yes, I suppose it does. I'll ask you a question, then you'll ask me one?"

"So 20 Questions?" Alfred asked, an amused glimmer in his eyes.

Arthur's cheeks tinted red. "Yes."

"I'm not stupid, and I wasn't born in here." Alfred's nose scrunched. "Though I guess you didn't know that."

"How long have you been here, then?"

"Well…" Alfred leaned back, propping himself up on his arms behind himself. He crossed his legs as well, and stared at a point high up on the opposite wall as he spoke. "I think it's been like four and a half years? Maybe five? When I first got here I tried to count the days, but sometimes it got a bit muddled, especially when they started knocking me out. Occasionally I'll be able to get them to tell me the date, so when they do I adjust the timeline. What's the date today?"

"It's June 29th." Arthur, meanwhile, couldn't take his eyes off of Alfred's face.

"That makes it just over five years. I came here on June 15th, five years ago. It's almost my birthday."

"When's your birthday, then?"

"July 4th!" Alfred's lips stretched into a smile, but his eyes were still lost in the distance.

"How old will you be?"

"Nuh-uh, it's my turn to ask a question."

Arthur blinked. "Oh. Go on."

"Why and how are you here?"

The Brit coughed and cast a suspicious glance to him.

Alfred finally lowered his gaze, frowning down at the smaller man. "What?"

"I'm considering whether that counts as one question or two."

"Come on, just one! There was only one question mark!" Alfred's lower lip jutted out in a pout.

Shaking his head, Arthur relented. "All right, it's one question." He found that he couldn't stand the sight of that pout for very long at all. "I heard what sounded like an explosion in the forest a few days ago so I decided to investigate. I love this forest, so I just wanted to see what happened to it."

"Oh. I know there was a fire? That's what the guys on the intercom said. Then they all left."

"And they left you here to die?"

Alfred shuffled. "I guess. They don't want anyone finding out about me, and they never let me outside so I… I'm not surprised. I guess they just didn't want to, or couldn't transport me."

"That's sick."

"That's how it is." Alfred shrugged his shoulders and lay his hand flat against the table, tapping his fingers against the surface.

"They would have let you burn to death, Alfred!" Arthur stood again and took a few vehement steps forward. "How can you be so...so defeated about this?"

The giant looked away again. "It's my turn to ask a question," he mumbled.

"To hell with that! What did they do to you here? Why are you so calm about this? How can you not want to tear this place apart?!"

"They did that too."

Arthur paused then, and tried to catch his breath. His chest heaved. "Did what?"

"Created a game, and then changed the rules of the game halfway through."

"I- I'm sorry…"

"It's okay." Alfred placed both of his arms on the table now, and rested his head atop them. "I was angry at the beginning. I destroyed the first two containment units within my first year here. They would punish me by taking away my food or water, or electrocuted me and stuff but I was so mad that I didn't care."

"Alfred…" Arthur took another step closer, his face filled with sympathy.

"But after months of that, on the day that was my second birthday here, I kind of just realized. I'm never getting out of here. There was no point to the anger, the homesickness, anything." Alfred didn't seem to be looking at anything in specific. His eyes were distant, and he stared right through the small Brit.

"Alfred, I…"

Blue eyes slid to green. "It's okay. I got used to it. I still counted, but I'd resigned myself to dying here."

Arthur strode forward with ferocity that surprised them both. He placed his hands on Alfred's arm and peered up at him. "But you won't die here, Alfred! They're gone and the door is wide open for you! You could leave here!"

But Alfred was shaking his head. "I'm like sixty feet tall. Where would I go? I'd be seen and caught by the government in a few hours." He gave a small, sad smile. "Thanks for caring, though."

The breath whooshed from Arthur's lungs and he sat down in front of that arm. "There must be some way… How did you even get to be so huge? You said you weren't born here."

"They injected me with something, some form of accelerated, aggressive mutation I think. I grew pretty quick, within like ten minutes, but it wasn't instantaneous."

"Well then there must be some sort of reversal serum or something. I can look around for you."

"Why are you doing all this? You were scared of me like five minutes ago." Alfred's brows furrowed.

"You didn't ask for this life, and if I can help you escape then it's practically my duty to. What they're doing to you isn't right, and what better chance to escape than when all of them have fled?"

Alfred's nose wrinkled. "Duty? That just sounds old-fashioned."

"I'm not leaving you here if I can help it, Alfred." Arthur only crossed his arms.

"Thanks. That- That means a lot." The huge teen's smile was more wobbly now, and his piercing gaze lowered to the table. "There should be signs to point you in the direction of the labs. Are you gonna know what's what?"

"Well." Arthur pushed himself onto his feet. "I'm quite decent at science. Can you remember anything about what they injected you with?"

"Umm… Well I know it was a red color, like so red that it looked like my blood, and there was a series of numbers? It was just numbers I think. But don't really expect to find the cure. Why would they have made that?"

Arthur ran his hand down Alfred's arm, marveling at the texture of the American's skin. "Insurance. It would make sense, like if something went wrong they would be able to null the experiment."

"Null? But wouldn't that kill me?"

That gave Arthur pause. "I...hadn't considered that. I'm sorry-"

"No. Go try and find it." Alfred's eyes hardened. "I'd rather die than continue living like this."

Arthur hadn't expected the sudden turn into mortality and talk of death. He swallowed, but in the end nodded. It was Alfred's choice, after all. "Hopefully it won't affect you quite that much then," he said. "Could you carry me to the door?"

"Carry you?" Alfred looked nervous again. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I wouldn't ask if I didn't mean it." Arthur gave him a smile. It wasn't as confident as he would have liked it to be, but it did the trick as Alfred straightened and placed his hand on the surface of the table. "Thank you."

"No worries." Alfred bit his lip as he waited. "Um, I might have to stand up. It'll be more shaky if I have to crawl over there."

Arthur paused halfway onto the hand and considered. "If you have your other hand nearby, I should feel safe enough." He crawled into the middle of the palm, unable to keep from feeling around himself.

Alfred giggled. "Hey- Hey that kinda tickles."

"Sorry." Arthur ducked his head, trying not to think about how nice Alfred's laughs were. The shaking around him stopped, only to be replaced by a different kind of trembling as Alfred stood up.

The journey over to the railing was a long one. Alfred kept stopping every few steps to ask if Arthur felt alright, and the steps that he did take were slow and measured. After the first few Arthur even found himself relaxing a little, and peering around. Now this was certainly a different perspective. His dismount was a little less graceful, since he had to half-crawl, half-slide himself onto the railing, but once he was on solid ground he stood up. By that point, Alfred had knelt and sat back again so their faces were roughly equal.

"Oh." The Brit let out a breath.

"What's wrong?" Alfred was whispering once more due to their proximity, and his lip vanished between his teeth again.

"Nothing, I just… I've never seen someone's face this close at this scale before." Arthur's eyes flitted all over the giant's face. It was almost too much to take in at once.

At that, Alfred chuckled. "I don't think lots of people have had the opportunity. Wanna touch?"

"T-Touch?"

"Yeah, like my nose and stuff. I'll try and keep real still."

Arthur glanced down to his hand. "I… If you wouldn't mind, then I don't see why not." He had to brace himself as Alfred edged closer.

The nose tip stopped a few inches away from him, and after a moment of observation Arthur cautiously reached out to place his hand against the skin. When he looked up to see Alfred's reaction to the touch, he had to bite back a smile when he noticed Alfred going a bit cross-eyed in an attempt to see. He rubbed his hand across the tip of Alfred's nose, then slid his arm up as far as it could go. He managed to reach the bridge, and was nearly there to touch the American's blond eyebrows, but he didn't want to push his luck.

"That feels quite odd," he murmured as he pulled his hand back.

As soon as Arthur was no longer touching him, Alfred shifted away and shivered. "Yeah, same here. I don't think anyone's touched me in a few months."

"Why didn't they?"

"Dunno. Guess they didn't feel the need to. Mostly they observed me from in there." Alfred nodded to the enclosed room.

"How cruel."

"I guess."

"Right." Arthur drew himself up. "Looking for the cure. I'll try to be back as soon as possible, but since I don't know the layout- Alfred?" Arthur paused as he saw Alfred's hunched shoulders.

The giant startled and blinked owlishly. "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?"

"I just…"

"What is it?" Arthur prodded when the other man lapsed into silence.

"You will come back, right?"

The Brit blinked. "Why would I not?"

"I dunno. Maybe it was all just a way for you to get away…from me…"

"What? No, Alfred, I'm going to help you. I want to get you out of here, and I'm not leaving without you. I promise." Damnit if Arthur couldn't stand to see him look so miserable.

"Really?" Alfred perked up a bit, though he still kept chewing on his lip.

"Really. If something happens, I'll try to let you know through the intercom. I don't know when or if the scientists will return here…"

"Oh shit, yeah." Alfred chewed faster.

"Stop that, you'll make yourself bleed. I'll go as quickly as possible." Alfred stepped up to the railing and stared up at him. "I won't leave you alone here willingly. I promise you that, please believe me."

Alfred managed a tiny smile. "I do."

"Good."

Arthur ran from the room, leaving his backpack behind and the doors ajar. At first he was just rushing through the hallways, though when he neared the room that he'd first come in through, he paused. Looking around the room, at the sterile, scientific equipment, his mind started to race. If he was discovered in here, what would happen to him? He'd told his mother that he'd be going out all day, but he'd never expected this. If the workers returned and found Alfred gone, there would be an investigation…

He eyed the door for a few seconds, then turned away and started wiping down every surface he could remember touching, smearing away his prints. There was no backing out completely now, so he could only hope to minimize any possible connection to him. Only once that was done did he resume his search, and he was careful not to touch anything. Though he glanced back the way he came, ultimately he decided to wipe his prints from the intercoms and handles on his way back.

He passed through two labs without finding anything and his chest started to feel tight. The thought of having to tell Alfred that there was nothing weighed heavily on him, and he couldn't help dragging his feet as he stepped into the third. The 'DNA and Genetics' sign on the door made him a little more hopeful, and he all but sprinted towards the fridge inside.

Hypodermic needles were lined up inside, four rows across with about five needles in each row. Half of them were a dark red colour, that of blood. The other half were blue, and the liquid inside seemed thinner. On every label was the word 'Jones', followed by a ten-digit number. Arthur hesitated, then grabbed one of each colour. If they both colours were held together and Alfred recognized the red formula, then surely the blue must be the reverse? A quick check of the rest of the room showed nothing else of interest.

Along the way back to the containment unit, he made one more stop to a locker room he passed by. Most of the lockers there were shut, but three had been left ajar in the rush to flee. In the first the clothes left there were even too small for Arthur to fit in, so he was quick to move on. The largest clothes were in the second locker, so he grabbed what he could before leaving again. It seemed some of the scientists slept in the complex; he managed to get underwear as well as trousers, socks, and a shirt. He swiped the shirt over all of the handles and intercoms along the way, and made a mental note of a pair of shoes he spotted that Alfred could grab later, provided everything went well.

"Alfred!" he called as he stepped through the still-open door. He left the clothes in a pile behind him.

The giant lifted his head, his eyes wide. "You came back."

Arthur shook his head. "And here I thought you said you believed me," he teased.

Pink rose to Alfred's cheeks. "Sorry. Did you find anything?"

"These." Arthur showed him the vials. "They're labeled Jones? And then the number."

Alfred's eyes lit up. "That's it, that's the stuff they jabbed me with!" He caught Arthur's wince and lowered his voice to a whisper again. "And my last name is Jones! That has to be it!" For the first time, he allowed himself to hope he might get out- oh. "I…really hope this doesn't kill me."

Arthur paled at that as well. He'd forgotten. "A-Alfred-"

"Jab me." Alfred eased his arm up next to the walkway. He was staring at the ground, and his fist was clenched. "With the blue one."

"Alfred, if this hurts you I…" Arthur tried to blink back his emotions. He'd known Alfred for less than an hour and yet… "I don't want to be the one that kills you I- I don't want you do have to die in here."

Alfred looked up then, and his face softened when he saw the expression on Arthur's. "Hey, Artie…" He slowly reached up his other hand to wrap it around the Brit's frame, and tightened his hold a little bit when Arthur sagged into him. "Careful. I guess I didn't think about how it could affect you, you're just a kid too…"

"Excuse you, I'm nineteen," Arthur huffed out.

"And I'm eighteen, but we're both still stupid kids compared to what's around us. I'm sorry that I'm asking you to do this but I'll shatter the needle if I tried and there's no one else… I don't want to die either but if it's that or waiting around until they come back or I die of starvation or whatever, I'd rather do it now, with you here. I know that's a horrible way to think, but-"

"I understand your reasoning. It's just hard for me. What if I kill you, Alfred? I'll have to watch you die." Arthur's cheeks dampened.

"I'm sorry." Alfred gave him a gentle squeeze, careful of the two needles he was holding. "This is our only chance. No matter what happens, I'm so happy that you're here and that I could even meet you and that I'm not alone. You saved me no matter what, Artie."

"Yes, well. I couldn't just do nothing, especially after getting to know you," Arthur said weakly. He allowed himself to lean into the heat of Alfred's hand for another moment, then tried to steel himself. "Right."

"Right." Alfred let him go and readjusted the arm near the railing. "No matter what happens, thank you so much."

"You're more than welcome, Alfred." Arthur's shoulders were still tight as he held the blue needle up against Alfred's arm. He pressed it into the skin and squeezed until all of the liquid inside had been pressed out. "Hold out your hand," he said, placing the red needle onto the observation room floor and grabbing the clothes instead.

"Why?" Still, Alfred did as he was told.

"In case your clothes don't shrink with you." Arthur pushed them into his hand.

Alfred smiled. "Thanks, Artie."

The American's expression suddenly convoluted, and his face paled. He frowned and sat back, both hands against the ground for stability. Arthur watched him with bated breath, gripping the railing so tightly his knuckles went white. Slowly, oh so slowly, Alfred began to shrink. The clothing he was wearing stayed the same size, so he soon began to flounder in it. When he realized what was going on, Alfred stood and kicked the clothes off while he still could, and Arthur looked away.

When he opened his eyes again, all he could see was the pile of giant clothing, and if he squinted he could make out a figure rummaging around next to it. Luckily by that time Alfred was clothed in the stuff taken from the lab. Arthur could see the bright grin on his face even from the walkway, and he smiled back and waved.

"Arthur!" Alfred yelled up. "It worked!" His steps were wobbly at first, but he soon regained his balance and sprinted up the staircase.

Arthur laughed at that and stepped back to be able to face him. He turned just in time, and before he could blink he was wrapped up in Alfred's arms. Alfred was still bigger than him, though not by much, and Arthur couldn't deny the happiness coursing through his own body. "I can see that," he said, squeezing back.

Alfred let him go after a few more moments, a brilliant smile on his face. "Thank you, Artie, thank you so much! I don't know what's gonna happen now, but-"

"Come with me," Arthur suddenly said. "My mom- She's really sweet and we'll at least be able to house you for a bit while we figure this out."

Though it didn't seem possible for it to do so, Alfred's grin only widened. "Artie…"

"You're welcome. We'll have to be careful and cover our tracks, but if you're ready, then let's go." Arthur held out a hand to him.

Alfred took it and squeezed. "I'm ready."

They ran.


End file.
